Pietersen Fires As England Take Comfortable Win

Kevin Pietersen smashed 79 off just 37 balls as England compiled 188 for 9 from their 20 overs and comfortably beat Zimbabwe by 50 runs in Cape Town.

England appeared to be cruising to over 200 at one stage as Pietersen and captain Paul Collingwood put together a hundred partnership but some tight bowling from Zimbabwe, suicidal running between the wickets and poor shots from England's middle order ensured they only made 188.

Pietersen's innings included one amazing reverse sweep for six over deep extra cover, three towering sixes over deep midwicket and seven fours. At the start of the innings, Darren Maddy made 14, Matthew Prior (20) and Luke Wright fell to a first ball duck. Elton Chigumbura, twice on a hat-trick, was the star bowler with four for 31.

Zimbabwe got off to a flying start with Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor, but three wickets from Dimitri Mascarenhas pegged them back before the run rate spiralled out of control and they lost further wickets at regular intervals with England scoring a deserved win.